Continental Blockade
by Salmiakkirae
Summary: "These three", Francis started and placed three pictures on the table, "They're on my way." These worlds will change Sweden's, Denmark's and Portugal's life forever. Includes some SuFin and DeNor.
1. Prologue

**... ... ... ...**

**FRENCH FILE NO. 1: **

**Russia - Ivan Braginski**

Large eastern nation, an empire. Our ally after he lost a battle against us. He may be useful. You need to ask him for a favor. But be careful, he's not as harmless as he looks.

**... ... ... ...**

**Summer, 1807**

"These three", Francis started and placed three pictures on the table, "They're on my way."

Ivan looked at the pictures. In one of them was his western neighbour, Sweden. Then there were Denmark and... a woman. She was one of those southern nations, Portugal. Ivan wondered what they had done to make the nation of France so upset.

"You know, I'm becoming more and more powerful these days. But there's one big obstacle who can ruin everything. That's Arthur."

"I hate the English as much as you do.", Ivan interrupted with a smile.

"Good! Maybe we can reach an agreement, then? He's protected by naval supremacy, so he's hard to beat. So, I want to isolate him."

"Isolate him?", Ivan asked.

"Yes, I want everybody to join my Continental Blockade. If nobody is allowed to trade with him, that will force him to surrender.", France explained his boss' big plan to his guest.

"And you want me to join this blockade? You know, that trade is very important to me ~."

"I know, but we're allies now! And... I wanted to ask something else, too."It's about these nations.", France pointed at the pictures.

"I don't think _they_ can threaten your hegemony.", Ivan laughed. What was Francis up to?

"They're still trading with Arthur and I want them to stop. Maybe you could persuade Sweden to join the blockade? I can handle Denmark and Portugal, but I could need some extra hands in this mission."

"I don't see how this would benefit me.", only a fool would work for free, allies or not, Ivan thought.

"Well, you have your argument with Turkey? Maybe I can help you with it? You want Bessarabia, Wallachia and Moldavia? Go ahead! And if you need to start a war against Sweden to make him agree, you get free hands. Keep whatever you want."

"You know, now this is getting interesting.", Ivan grinned.

"Ah ha! I knew this would interest you! There's so much we can do together. I'll be the ruler of the West and you the ruler of the East! There will be peace forever.", France chuckled, "So, do you agree to help me?"

"Sure. I don't see why not."

"Great! You know, I'm so happy I could marry you right now!", France said excited.

"You want to become one with me?"

"Well, eh...", Francis tried to mumble something. Sure, Ivan would be a great subordinate, but he had probably meant Francis would be the subject in this relationship. That wouldn't do. The other way, maybe one day... yes.

But now, he was just happy everything had gone as planned.

* * *

**A/N **

I'm not sure will I continue this. Maybe if I don't have anything else to do...


	2. Portugal 1

**... ... ... ...**

**FRENCH FILE NO. 2: **

**Portugal - Beatriz Rodrigues Lisboa** (OC)

Young woman with short, dark hair. She has a scar over her right eye. An old empire, shouldn't be taken too lightly.

She's our next target. Try to persuade her to turn against her old friend Arthur. If she refuses to, capture her. If she agrees, well, we are probably going to capture her anyway.

**... ... ... ...**

**Fall, 1807**

"No way", Beatriz leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She looked defiantly at Francis who was sitting in front of her. More defiantly than a declining empire should look at the raising one.

The day had started so well. The weather was so great and the breakfast had been delicious - toast with butter and coffee with a lot of milk - but soon after this everything had seemed to begin to go wrong.

Francis had announced he will visit her - rudely, without warning - and here they were now, in Beatriz's cozy living room.

"Arthur is an old friend of mine, I'll never agree to this. And like you know very well, I'm neutral, senhor Bonnefoy." Beatriz hissed between teeth, using his surname. The other had hurt her feelings. He wanted her to stab her trading partner in the back!

"Ah, you should consider this, my dear!", Francis chuckled and pushed a stray ringlet behind her ear. This made the woman startle a bit. "I'm going to rule this whole continent soon. Maybe you should reconsider who your friends are. We could have fun together, hm?"

"You want me to stop all the trade with Arthur? You want me to declare war on him? You're constantly demanding more and more. You're overestimating your charm, it doesn't work.", if Francis thought a cheap flirt would make her to betray one of her oldest friends, he made a bad mistake. Especially when she knew he had a habit to flirt with everybody.

For a moment Francis looked disappointed, but then stood up like nothing at all had happened. "I'll give you some time to think about this. You'll propably come to your senses."

They said their goodbyes without emotional outbursts, however, Francis sent her a kiss from the door. It made Beatriz to snort.

After Francis had left, Beatriz let the walls she had built around her to crumble. Calmness was replaced by panic. She walked to her balcony and hit her fists and her head to the railing. What the heck she should do! "What the heck I should do!", she shouted over the railing to the city near her house, but of course she didn't get the answer.

She already knew Spain was moving his troops, and when she knew Antonio was an ally of Francis, it wasn't hard to guess what they were planning to do. If Francis didn't get what he wanted with good, then he would probably try with bad.

Beatriz scratched absentmindedly the railing of her balcony. Antonio... She had a very complicated relationship with her more voluble eastern neighbor, they seldom got on well together. Once they were even engaged, though it had been mainly a marriage of convenience. She had felt herself more as Antonio's captive than anything else. And then she had rebelled... and ran away. And it had felt so good!

She climbed to sit on the railing and watched the city. She liked being on her own, marriages or romances clearly were not for her. Not to mention becoming someone's subordinate - it was the worst thing that could happen a nation. Especially a nation like her, who had her own subordinate's behind the seas. She really hoped Francis was only bluffing, trying to only scare her.

* * *

**A/N**

Too bad there isn't Portugal in Hetalia yet. And if she is going to be a he instead, I guess I need to change this. I'm sorry if I made mistakes with her. Oh, and only her name and character are invented by me. Her appearance is from one of Himaruya's sketches.


	3. Denmark and Norway 1

**... ... ... ...**

**FRENCH FILE NO. 3: **

**Denmark - Mikkel Densen**

Fair-haired man from the North. Usually acts before thinks, loud. Arthur destroyed his fleet not so long ago, so it should be quite easy to convince him to be our ally.

**Norway - Lukas Bondevik**

Denmark's housemate. Looks drowsy, but he's the one who has common sense. His little brother Iceland - Emil Steilsson - lives with them.

**... ... ... ...**

**Fall, 1807**

Mikkel was half-sitting, half-lying on his big chair. His feet were on the table. They had a guest, but Mikkel wanted to show him that in his home, he was the one who made the rules. In reality, their guest made him nervous. Rising powers always had that effect.

Lukas was sitting beside him, leaning his chin in his palm. You could never be sure was he listening or had he escaped to some magical world in his mind. To a magical world where lived pink bunnies, magical trolls, giant butterflies and who knows what else.

Weird, but so important, thought Mikkel. Lukas was his best friend, maybe even more. Mikkel glanced at Lukas, who in turn glanced angrily back. They had let Francis to wait for their attention too long now. Mikkel realized this and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"So, Francis. Why did you came to visit us?", he asked.

"Taking into account your recent habit to conquer other nations, this is hardly a courtesy visit?", Lukas continued in a monotone voice.

Ah, you want to get straight to the main point! Your relationship is propably similar, right?", Francis continued a twinkle in his eye.

"What?", Mikkel raised his brow.

"Tell what you want already.", Lukas blurted out and looked Francis straight in the eye. What the hell he thought they were doing all day long?

"Yes... I would like you to join my Continental Blockade against Arthur. When nobody trades with him, he's forced to grovel at my feet to beg for mercy, or go hungry."

There was a knock when Mikkel suddenly straightened himself on his chair. He got up, hit his palms on the table and leaned closer to Francis.

"I'm in!", he said and nodded his head.

"Well, that was easy!", Francis chuckled happily. More easy than with Beatriz.

"Do you know what Arthur did to me? Do you? He attacked against Copenhagen so that he could get my fleet. He said it was a pre-emptive strike, he didn't want it to be used against him. But we were neutral, I, Lukas and Emil! But not anymore, Arthur will get what he deserves! Do you understand what he caused to my capital!", Mikkel blurted everything out of his mouth.

"Francis knows very well what happened.", Lukas interrupted calmly, "I think that's the reason why he thought this was the perfect time to come here with his proposal."

"Your little friend is a clever one! You... wouldn't borrow him to me someday.", Francis asked with honeyed voice.

"This alliance has certain limits, Francis!", Mikkel snarled at the man. "Let's focus on Arthur now."

* * *

**A/N**

Mikkel, Densen and Lukas Bondevik are Himaruya's potential names for these nations. Other potential names were Andersen, Christensen, Arnesen, Simon Densen, Abel, Mikkel, Magnus or Bertram for Denmark, and Lukas Bondevik, Børre Thomassen, Bjørn, Kjetil, Knut, or Sigurd for Norway.


	4. Sweden and Finland 1

**... ... ... ...**

**FRENCH FILE NO. 4: **

**Sweden - Berward Oxenstierna**

Silent young man. His cold stare makes most people nervous. Glasses, mumbles. An old empire, but badly declined one. Russia's job is to persuade him to be our ally.

**Finland - Tino Väinämöinen**

Sweden's housemate. Berward calls him his wife, but it's not sure what Tino thinks about this. If Sweden refuses to, Russia can decide what he will do with him.

**... ... ... ...**

**Fall, 1807**

Berward stared Ivan straight in the eye, but his smile and languid gaze didn't change. Tino wasn't really surprised by this. Berward's gaze made most people scared, but also Ivan's whole presence had the same effect. So now in this room was a balance of terror.

At least Tino thought so, he himself felt double nervous.

Berward glanced at Tino. He wouldn't have wanted his wife to be in the negotiations, but Ivan had saw him when he had arrived to their house, and he had wanted him to be there, too. Berward didn't like this at all.

"So, y're n'w an ally of Francis?", Berward said to Ivan, still staring straight at him.

"Ha ha, yes. He's not as bad friend as I first thought ~." Ivan answered happily. "I recommend him to you, too."

"Hm?", Berward asked. Tino glanced at them both. What they were talking about?

"Yes.", Ivan looked at the floor and smiled sweetly, "You wouldn't want to change sides? Francis would like you to join to his Continental Blockade against Arthur. When Arthur can't trade with anyone, he needs to surrender to Francis ~."

"No.", Berward started to get a bit annoyed. Arthur was one of his best trading partners. It would be devastating to him and Tino to end trade with him. And it would be also really rude to change allies like that.

"No? But why not?", the look on Ivan's face was like child's whose candy bag was just taken away.

"Tr'de with Arthur is too important to me, and he's my ally. In addition to th's, my boss h'tes France's boss more than an'thing in this w'rld.", Berward stated, and was already about to rise from his chair. He wanted this discussion to end here and now. Ivan would need to tell to Francis he had failed.

To their surprise, Ivan just chuckled. His sweet smile turned into a weird grin. Are you saying "no" to me?

Berward sat back down. Tino felt all his muscles to tense. The tension in the air had risen again by one degree. Perhaps even more. Of course they already knew by now, that Ivan's moods changed easily when something dissatisfied him. Still, it always came as a surprise.

"You'll join to the Continental Blockade. You'll end all your trade with Arthur. You'll join to France's and his other allies side, is that clear?", it was rather a command than a question.

"No.", Berward said once again.

Ivan shrugged his shoulders. His smile disappear for a moment, but soon returned again to his face. "All right! I think the negotiations are over now.", the big nation said suddenly and stood up. He stretched out his hand to Berward, who shook hands with him. After this, Ivan stretched out his hand to Tino, too.

Tino looked at the large hand for a moment and then stretched out his hand. Ivan grabbed it surprisingly hard. In fact, it felt like he was trying to crush it. Tino cried with pain and tried to look at Ivan. To his surprise, the other stared at Berward with a grin on his face. Berward seemed to be ready to rush from behind the table to attack Ivan.

Finally, Ivan released Tino's hand and walked to the door. "For your own good, I hope you'll change your mind.", he said before he closed the door and left.

"What was that?", Tino asked, holding his aching hand. "A good think he wasn't kissing this time, he would have probably bitten my ear off!", he tried to joke, laughing nervously.

Berward didn't say anything, he just put his hands on the shoulders of Tino. He was really worried. That had been a warning.


	5. Portugal 2

...** ... ... ...**

**FRENCH FILE NO. 5: **

**Portugal - Beatriz Rodrigues Lisboa** (OC)

Young woman with short, dark hair. She has a scar over her right eye. An old empire, shouldn't be taken too lightly.

Capture her.

**Algarve - Tomaz Caiado Guerreiro** (OC)

Portugal's housemate. It's rumored he's in so weak condition he could disappear on any day now. Capture him too, Antonio would like to have him.

**... ... ... ...**

**Fall-winter, 1807**

_"I'm sure we'll be alright. We shouldn't provoke the French."_

_"With all due respect, sir, are you sure?"_

_"Don't question me, Beatriz."_

_"Yes, sir. I mean, of course not, sir."_

Her prince had been wrong. So wrong. Now they knew better, but it was already too late to do anything. Her troops were mainly protecting coasts and ports, the enemy was free to advance. Soon Francis would be here, gloating his victory over her. And Antonio, he was with him too.

"Your prince needs to choose, Beatriz. Either he stays with you, or let my men to escort him and the rest of your royal family to Brazil. They'll be safe with him.", Arthur said. He had come to visit her soon after he had hear about the attack.

"He has already chosen. He will... come with you.", Beatriz bit her lip. This was necessary, right? It was necessary to protect at least them, they could help her later if they stayed free. They weren't escaping, leaving her and her people alone, or anything like that. Oh, she should slap herself later for even thinking about something like that!

"That snobby upstart will be here soon. Are you sure you'll be alright?", Arthur interrupted her thoughts.

Beatriz nodded her head. "I'm not going to fight back, it's an order from his highness. I need to avoid unneccessary bloodshed... at least for now. If I'm lucky, the weather will finish him off and I don't need to do anything.", she looked at Arthur, "What are you going to do now?"

"I need to retreat from here for now. But I'll be back when the time is right."

"Because you want to help your old friend or because you want to beat your old enemy?", Beatriz grinned teasingly.

"Well, if I can do both I'll be happy. But I need to admit, breaking down his megalomaniacal plans would bring me... a different kind of satisfaction.", Arthur smile turned twisted. And of course he wanted to help his people to win this war, too.

Beatriz stared at him a moment, then rolled her eyes. Some things never change. Well, at least they had the same goal, so it didn't matter what his motives were. "Have you two ever agree on anything?".

"Sure. Sometimes when it's necessary. At least once in a century."

* * *

Beatriz was walking back towards her home when she heard steps behind her. She turned around and saw a young man with a dark hair. He smiled at her sweetly.

"Oh! Hi, Tomaz! Where have you been?", Beatriz walked up to him and greeted him with kisses. Tomaz was a personification of Algarve, her southern region. Sometimes Beatriz wondered what kept him still around. He did not differ that much from the other ordinary regions. Maybe he was still here because her rulers usually wanted him to be included in their titles? Or maybe he had a strong will to live?

But Tomaz himself seemed to be quite calm about the whole matter. He had accepted the fact he could disappear some day - not his, their people, but him as a personification. Beatriz hoped Tomaz could return to be a normal human when the day comes, to fell in love with someone and maybe even have kids, but it was probably impossible, he had been around too many years to be able to do that. He would just vanish.

"Here and there. The enemy forces are advancing slowly but firmly.", the dreamy-eyed boy answered.

"Our prince and the others will leave with Arthur... so we're on our own now.", Beatriz sighed, "At times like this I wish I could go back in time. I would like to travel, explore, sail and go through storms. Feel the thrill of speed. Nowadays everything seems to go wrong."

"I'm sure everything will go as it's supposed to go. We're still free, right.", Tomaz said, watching the clouds above.

"I still wish I could do something about the matter, not just go home and wait for Francis to arrive. It's annoying."

* * *

Two weeks later, someone finally knocked at her door. Beatriz sighed. He invaded her, and still tried to make himself look like a gentleman. Why he didn't just kick the door in.

Without waiting for Beatriz to open the door, Francis walked in. He looked as beautiful as always, if she didn't know any better she'd never guessed the man had just traveled through the most difficult route there was. It was short, but there were hardly any places where you could get some rest. His men must be exhausted.

"Don't look me like that, Beatriz. I warned you, remember? And you should be happy! I'm liberating you from the influence of that... caterpillar brow.", Francis said and sit next to her, smiling happily. There was no need to mention he was going to do this anyway.

"I don't remember asking any help from you. Those others you've invaded or who are your puppets were probably as thrilled as I'm now."

"Well, maybe they were a bit angry at first. But don't you see how much good my boss has done? Reforms that many countries could only dream of! And this is partly self-defence, too. Some of those nations would never cease to fight against me."

"Self-defence? I conquered the world because I was just defending myself. I've never heard anyone to use that excuse before.", Beatriz laughed sourly.

Before neither of them could continue, they heard a creak from the door. Tomaz was pushed in. He fell on his knees.

"Tomaz!", Beatriz gasped and was about to rise, but when she saw he was mostly alright, she stayed in her chair and kept her calm.

"I'm sorry if I'm late.", Antonio, a happy looking personification of Spain, walked in. "If I didn't understand it wrong, we did agree I can keep him, right Francis.", he looked at Tomaz who was now sitting on the floor. "Oh, hi to you too Beatriz!"

Sometimes Beatriz wondered were they two really cousins. But what make her more confused at the moment was the way Francis was looking at Antonio. His smile was almost... sly?

"Sure, Antonio. I always keep my promises. How about you? Can I really trust you?", Francis was now looking straight into Antonio's eyes. Beatriz was waiting quietly, listening. This was a strange turn in events. Tomaz had also raised his head in curiosity. Antonio looked a little bit puzzled, but still relaxed. "What do you mean?"

Francis sighed, he leaned back in his chair.

"I don't think I can trust you. Unlike, let's see, Poland or Denmark, you're seeking for profit. Feliks wants to be free. It must be horrible to have your lands partitioned like that, live in a fear of complete disappearance, have three masters. Right now, I'm the only one who can offer him at least relative freedom, so he's the most loyal ally I have.", Francis paused for a moment to see their reaction.

"Mikkel's motive is revenge, he's driven by anger. Very useful to me when we have the same enemy. But you, Antonio, you don't need to be loyal to me. If somebody offers you something better than I can, you'll take it. You're a very unstable ally. Of course I can threaten you to obey me, but I think it's better to make... you more mine."

"You mean...", Antonio didn't smile anymore. Beatriz knew him very well. He didn't take it too well when something didn't go the way he wanted it to.

"Why do you think I left some of my forces to you place when we arrived here", he glanced at Beatriz and then back at Antonio, "When I snap my fingers you'll be mine too."

Antonio standed quietly for a moment. Then he walked to the door, "If you dare to attack me, I promise I'll rip you to pieces. And you can be sure I'll keep this promise.", then he left and slammed the door close after him.

Francis shaked his head, "He will calm down.", then he turned back to Beatriz and Tomaz. "If I remember correct, we were talking about your surrender. I hope you'll take me to your prince without resistance."

Beatriz chuckled and then smiled, "I'm so sorry, I can't do that. Did I forget to tell you that my prince and queen, all of them actually, are on they way to my little Brazil right as we speak."


	6. Denmark and Norway 2

**... ... ... ...**

**FRENCH FILE NO. 6: **

**Denmark - Mikkel Densen**

Fair-haired man from the North. Usually acts before thinks, loud.

Tell him our next plan. Try to get him involved in the war against Berward.

**Norway - Lukas Bondevik**

Denmark's housemate. Looks drowsy, but he's the one who has common sense. His little brother Iceland - Emil Steilsson - lives with them.

**... ... ... ...**

**Late winter, 1808**

Lukas was walking towards the conference room. Francis was here again. He had some problems with Berward, so now he wanted their help. And allies should help each other, right? It was a good think that Emil was in his own island at the moment. There was no need to get him or Astrid and IIluak* to get involved in this.

Sometimes Lukas seriously considered moving to his own house. There were times he needed his own space and peace. But Mikkel wouldn't take it so well. Sure, he was annoying, noisy, and sometimes makes him crazy, but he wasn't that bad either. At least his presence was never boring. Maybe he could convince him that they could still stay in touch, there was no need for them to live in the same house? No, he wouldn't probably understand.

"Great! Now we are all here. Take a seat, Lukas", Mikkel greeted him when he opened the door. Francis was sitting next to Mikkel and there were maps all over the table. Lukas didn't say anything, just pulled out a chair for himself.

"As you know, convincing Berward to join our side has proven to be more difficult than I first thought.", Francis said, looking at the maps.

"No wonder, he's a quite stubborn blockhead", Mikkel agreed.

"Ivan has tried to persuade him, but in vain. So, now I think it's time to use some force. At the moment Ivan is fighting against the Ottoman empire, but I'm sure such a big country can handle Turkey and Sweden at the same time. And we can help him a little bit."

"Tell me more.", Mikkel asked. He had some old grudges with Berward too.

"When Ivan attacks from the east, you two have a perfect chance to attack from the west. Two-front war will weaken Berward considerably.", Francis smiled. "Maybe I can join the attack too. The old lion will be forced on his knees."

"That would be a perfect opportunity to take everything back he's taken from me during the years .", Mikkel pondered out loud. Propably the only opportunity he would get. He smirked. "What do you think, Lukas? Is this a good idea?"

"Maybe...", Lukas answered. There were always risks, but the situation looked good for them at the moment. But why he had a feeling they shouldn't get involved in this? Or maybe he was just overly cautious because he didn't feel too good? That cursed blockade aimed towards Arthur had started to to affect him, too.

All the same, it was completely Mikkel's decision to make.

* * *

**A/N**

* Astrid and IIluak - Faroe Islands and Greenland in this case. I hope I didn't mess up with their names.

Short chapter is short.**  
**


	7. Sweden and Finland 2

**FRENCH FILE NO. 7: **

**Sweden - Berward Oxenstierna**

Silent young man. His cold stare makes most people nervous. Glasses, mumbles. An old empire, but badly declined one

He needs to be forced to obey us.

**Finland - Tino Väinämöinen**

Sweden's housemate. Berward calls him his wife, but it's not sure what Tino thinks about this. Russia can decide what he will do with him.

**... ... ... ...**

**Late winter, 1808**

"Everything seems to be in order here", Tino said with satisfaction and looked at Berward questioningly, like wanting to know did he agree with him.

Berward nodded his head. They were making sure the strong fortress of Sveaborg was ready for war. Berward hoped things wouldn't go that far, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Sve... are we in a real danger? Or is this all just precautionary measures?", Tino asked, like reading his thoughts and looked at their soldiers practising nearby. The ones with blue and yellow uniforms were Swedes and those who wore plain gray uniforms were mostly Finns. Berward found himself wondering why they needed different uniforms. It just made things more complicated.

"Not sure", a simple answer. And it was true, Berward wasn't sure would Ivan actually attack or was he just threatening with war. Sadık kept Ivan busy in the south, if he attacked against them, he would be involved in a two-front-war and that wouldn't be a very wise thing to do.

But if the worst happened... Berward remembered the meeting with his strategists:

...

_"If Russia really attacks, we're going to retreat as much as possible."_

_"Wh't?"_

_"It's simple. We need to avoid battles and lure the enemy closer to the western side of the kingdom. Most of our troops are here. When the time is right we can counter-attack - even over the sea."_

_"But..."_

_"The most important fortress on the eastern side of the kingdom is Sveaborg. As you know, it's invincible. The enemy will strain all his powers trying to conquer it. And when it does so, soldiers from the fortress will beat them easily."_

_"I..."_

_"It'll be an attack from the western and eastern side of the kingdom against already tired enemy soldiers.", the strategist continued, "they will be trapped in the middle."_

_"Does this mean w' ne'd to let them conquer th'se lands? Without r'sistance?", Berward finally asked. _

_The strategist looked at Berward, surprised._

_"Well, yes, but only temporarily. We'll get them back." _

_"And th's is our main str'tegy?", Berward looked at the papers. This sounded a bit too risky._

_The strategist nodded his head, "This is our main strategy."_

_...  
_

Tino didn't need to know all the details. He wouldn't like them and the most importantly, they needed to keep the eastern side of the kingdom calm, avoid provoking the possible enemy. Everything had to be as usual. But Tino seemed to sense something was wrong. Not good, Berward thought. Sometimes Tino read him like an open book, and sometimes - usually when he wanted him to understand and was too shy to say things aloud - Tino was clueless. But how he could say these things to him when even the thought of it made him blush.

"Someone is approaching us", Tino interrupted his thoughts. He looked at the direction Tino pointed. It was true. A young-looking soldier was walking towards them.

"Berward Oxenstierna?", the man asked when he reached them. Berward just nodded his head.

"His Majesty needs to see you right away. This is really urgent."

What could be more urgent than this, Berward wondered, "It seems we n'ed to go", he said to Tino. There was no way he could refuse this order.

"No, only you", the man said to Berward, "we need to have someone to make sure everything goes well on this side of the kingdom."

"But...", he wanted him to leave Tino here alone! In the time like this! Probably it was just because the situation was like this. He needed to seem confident, like he was not worried about anything. Not even worried about leaving Tino here alone.

Berward turned to face Tino and grabbed his shoulders gently. He tried to look reassuring but apparently he failed as this made Tino wince a little.

"L'sten. I'll be b'ck as soon as p'ssible. If... s'mething happens, follow the s'ldiers. Don't do anything r'sky."

"Sure, Sve. Don't worry, I've been alone before and you know me, I'm not a risk-taker", Tino assured, "and who would be crazy enought to attack now, the weather is colder than before."

True, the weather was freezing. More freezing than it had been in previous years. If Ivan was about to attack, he would propably do it later in spring. There was still some time left. Berward felt the weight fall off his shoulders.

"Okay, see y' soon", Berward said and left with the messenger. He needed to get his horse and then he was ready to go.

"So, wh't's so important he n'eds to see me right n'w", Berward didn't have the patience to wait. He wanted to get more details right now.

"Denmark and Norway have mobilized their troops near our border. And if the information is correct, also the French soldiers are heading to our direction."


	8. Sweden and Finland 3

**FRENCH FILE NO. 7: **

**Sweden - Berward Oxenstierna**

Silent young man. His cold stare makes most people nervous. Glasses, mumbles. An old empire, but badly declined one

He needs to be forced to obey us.

**Finland - Tino Väinämöinen**

Sweden's housemate. Berward calls him his wife, but it's not sure what Tino thinks about this. Russia can decide what he will do with him.

**... ... ... ...**

**Winter-spring, 1808**

"Progeny, stand here on your own foundation, and do not rely on foreign help."

The Swedish sentence was carved on the gate of Sveaborg. Tino read it every time he visited the fortress. It sounded quite pessimistic and even funny, when you knew the whole place was built partly with French money. It was back then when Francis was still worried about the situation in Ivan's place and had wanted to make them stronger.

Now everything had changed.

Tino had heard about Ivan's attack couple days ago. His troops had crossed their border already about a week ago and Tino wasn't sure what he should do next. Sve had said he shouldn't take risks and should just leave if something like this happens, but he had also promised to come back as soon as possible. That's why Tino wanted to wait for him a little bit longer, but not in the fortress, because it was probably their main target.

So, he stayed in a small town near the fortress instead. It should take months before the enemy would arrive here. And maybe their soldiers could stop them even before that. This wasn't risky at all.

Well, at least he had thought so. It was before the whole town was awakened from their sleep in the middle of a stormy night. Someone had seen foreign soldiers coming this way. Russians or maybe they were Ukrainians, they didn't know. It didn't really even matter.

And now, the whole town - him included - hid in the nearby woods. It was dark and freezing and he couldn't understand how it was even possible for them to be here so quickly. And why they took a boring town and ignored the fortress? Luckily, Ivan wasn't with them, so they wouldn't probably recognize him even if he was caught.

He couldn't get caught. He needed to find Berward.

("Where are all the people? We need to get them back here! Otherwise they will shoot at us from the fortress when they realize we're here alone and there's no danger to hit their people.")

("I think they ran to the forest.")

("Go after them. Tell them we're not going to hurt them and that they will freeze to death if they stay there. You know how to speak Swedish, right? It's important to get them back before the dawn.")

Tino was hiding so close the enemy soldiers he was able to hear them talk to each other. Too bad he didn't understand a word. They seemed to be worried about something and some of them headed towards the woods. Soon, he saw some of his people walking back to the town. They had apparently decided it was better to take the risk than die from cold. Tino joined their group. Nobody seemed to pay attention to him; he was just one of the townspeople.

…

Berward was near the Norwegian border. Mikkel had declared war against him, but so far there had been only small skirmishes.

Ivan had also declared war – well, to tell the truth, he never declared it, he just attacked. It made Berward worried because he hadn't heard about Tino since he had left from the fortress. He needed to go there, but he couldn't do it just yet. Not before he got the message he was waiting for.

He walked towards his military leaders.

"Tell me the n'ws."

"Now it's confirmed: France will not attack. He's in too big trouble with Spain. And Spain's resistance seems to encourage Austria and Prussia join to the fight again, too", he said.

Yes, Berward had heard about Antonio's rage. He had apparently decided to beat Francis's whole army with bare hands. And he was doing surprisingly well.

"I guess I can tr'st you to do your w'rk here without me. Do y' have any n'ws about Arthur? Will we g't any help from him?", Arthur was his ally after all.

"He's planning to do something about the situation in Portugal and Spain, so he's quite busy right now. But he promised to disturb Danish and Norwegian merchant fleets. They will be out of food and other supplies soon."

Good. Then he was free to go to the east. He needed to find Tino - and fast.

…

Tino was stuck in the small town. He needed to collect supplies so that he could sneak out and travel to the north. He wondered how the war was going: he hadn't seen their soldiers anywhere. Well, there were some in the fortress, but Russian troops had surrounded the whole place by now.

"You need to see this!", one of the residents rushed in the hut. He had a Swedish newspaper in his hand. Seeing it made Tino's mood rise. Finally they would get some news.

"Where did you get this?", Tino asked as he opened the paper.

"Some people are smuggling these past the Russians.", the man answered, but he didn't seem happy.

And when Tino started to read the paper, he understood why; it was full of bad news. Swedish troops had experienced only losses and it sounded like they had given up already. The whole army were escaping and the kingdom was in the crisis.

Tino squeezed the paper in his hands. This explained everything! It explained the absence of their soldiers, it explained why the town was taken over so quickly. Losses, only losses. But where was Berward? Had they hurt him? Was he in the hospital? Captured? And where was Ivan? He hoped not in the same place as Berward.

"Our soldiers are useless.", a big man who was sitting in the corner of the hut said suddenly. Tino turned his gaze towards him.

"We need to do something .", he continued, "we are forming a resistance movement, I think everyone capable should join it or otherwise we're doomed."

"Doomed?", a woman asked, "But didn't they promise they will not hurt us? Even our nobles want us to stay calm."

"They're all lying. The bigger position means bigger lies. We'll be serfs if we don't do something quickly. Nobody will force the nobles to be serfs, that's why they are calm. You - ", the big man looked straight at Tino, "You seem to be old enough to join. Will you just sit here and let all of this happen? Or maybe you're one of our nobles, your clothes look awfully new and clean."

"Me? No, I got these from a… friend.", from Berward, Tino thought. Everything seemed lost. Maybe he should join, to do something. Maybe he could find out what's happened to Berward.

"Tell me more.", he asked.

…

Outside the town, Russian soldiers chatted with each other.

("They aren't suspecting anything.")

(No wonder. These fake newspapers are masterpieces. Even I would think they're real.)

(Now we need to wait. Unsuspecting people will smuggle these to the fortress too. They will believe in a complete defeat. Maybe we can trick them to give up. There's no reason to fight if there's no hope anymore.)

…

Berward was riding to the other side of the kingdom as fast as he could. At the moment he was needed there more than here. He hoped Tino had managed to stay out of trouble.

It was when he spotted a soldier approaching him.

"Wh't?", he asked when he reached him.

"The fortress of Sveaborg has surrendered. The backbone of our eastern defense has collapsed. We have no information about the location of Väinämöinen."


End file.
